St George: Hero, Martyr and Myth

Who was St George and how did he become patron saint, not only of England, but many other European countries? The author explores the wealth of myth and legend, art and inspiration which surrounds this obscure 4th-century Christian martyr.

Whoever St. George really was--perhaps a Christian Roman military officer executed around A.D. 300--he became a hugely popular icon in the late Middle Ages, especially in England. As a consequence, a rich tradition of visual imagery exists, ripe for interpretation by an author thoroughly fascinated by the saint. The central support of Riches' writing is her close examination of more than 100 paintings and sculptures of St. George (not seen in the prepublication proof). This evidence of veneration layered several stories over an original substrate of St. George's piety and martyrdom. Somehow the tale of the hero saving a damsel from a monster, a stock motif probably borrowed from folklore and Greek mythology, became attached to the saint, as did an increasing variety of tortures inflicted on him, depicted in medieval versions of the horror film, as Riches observes. St. George really arrived with the patronage of English kings, and the saint's association with English nationalism (St. George's red-cross-on-white-shield is the English flag) remains alive today. An illuminating excursion into a potent religio-national symbol. Gilbert Taylor
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